Thread: Wiggies (Wiggles) Red Car

As far as brakes are concerned with a billy cart in my day they were optional. We had several options though, not all of them recommended in todays political correct enviroment. But for your guidance , here are a few.

1. Put bare feet out onto the pavement until the bleeding and pain become to much.

2. Head for the nearest fence or lamppost.

3. Turn the front wheels very quickly causing the cart to tip violently onto its side and do a few somersaults with you still hopefully still attached.

4. Or you could do what any normal father would do after scraping his son off the pavement a few times to the utmost distress of his wife.


And that would be to put a lever onto the side of the cart with some rubber bolted to the bottom. To stop you just pushed with all your might against the lever and hoped that your faith in God was well vindicated.

Pete

G'Day Mick,
You've got my interest.
Thanks for the WIP photos.
Cheers, crowie

Ah the wiggles little red car. every kids dream car. Pete has some good ideas about brakes and most of his methods described I can relate to unfortunately.
I can remember a lever type contraption which just had a pivot point so the end of the lever contacted the wheel and slowed it down and hopefully stop the darn thing.

Well after one week I have almost finished the seat. It just needs a light sand and another coat of poly. I had thought of doing some more complex joins (I have a Triton biscuit jointer that I have not used but that is another story) but the more complex joinery would have delayed the project by too long. So I went with what I know I can do - butt joints and some extra supports - all glued and screwed. From the pictures you can see I have used enough screws! I am not keen on all the screws showing so may put some glue and wood chips over the top but will wait until the end before doing this.
I am waiting for my grandson to be over during the day when I am home so we can do some painting for sides. We will be painting the inside red (of course). I have also coerced my partner (who is much more artistic than me) to help with some sort of decorative painting on the outside, so you had better all stay tuned!

cheers

Mick

Billycarts are one of my favourite things, I have been making them it seems all of my life. The last 20yrs I have made racing carts, low to the ground ,you fully lay down in them, 4 wheel independent suspension, pump up tyres, race bearing etc quicker down hill than a bike. Lost a bit of bark and a couple of cracked ribs over the years as well, but great fun and not expensive. Just a couple of things Mick I believe if you can't hide something highlight it, so I would leave the screws showing it gives it that tough look. The other thing is most of the crashes I see at billycart races happen after the finish line, it's when kids take one hand off the rope steering to pull on the hand brake. Try and make a foot operated brake onto one wheel will do.

They are great fun, have a go yourself.

I have attached a photo of my 'red cart' so you can see the foot brake in the centre at the front. I don't have the cart any more so I can't provide anymore detailed photos. However I am happy to explain if you need any more details.

Phil

Phil,

that is one nice looking billycart! I did not work out the brakes from the picture so any help would be appreciated. At the moment my cart is going to be controlled by the feet so I would really need a hand operated brake.

cheers

Mick

A Wiggles red car!! Every kid in the neighbourhood will want one!

Looking good Mick!!

Starting to take shape Mick. Looks good.

Hi Mick,

I have done a few drawings for you re the brake. From what I remember the Wiggles car has mudguards so if you split the mudguard and have one attached to the body as per drawing one and then the second piece of the mudgard can form the brake as per picture 2. If you attach with a bolt at the base you pull the brake on, if you attach further up then you can push the brake on as in Pic 3. This is a simple hand break which can be incorporated in your wiggles design. You said you prefered a hand brake as the kids will be steering with their feet so a foot brake is not an option for you.

Phil

Originally Posted by Prime mover

Hi Mick,

I have done a few drawings for you re the brake. From what I remember the Wiggles car has mudguards so if you split the mudguard and have one attached to the body as per drawing one and then the second piece of the mudgard can form the brake as per picture 2. If you attach with a bolt at the base you pull the brake on, if you attach further up then you can push the brake on as in Pic 3. This is a simple hand break which can be incorporated in your wiggles design. You said you prefered a hand brake as the kids will be steering with their feet so a foot brake is not an option for you.

Phil

That is similar to what I had on mine also. Many times it saved me from been put on the critical list and instead listed as serious but improving.

Pete

Phil,

I had thought of a brake as you have drawn (a simple lever with a spring to hold the brake off the wheel; rubber attached and the brake with the same arc size as the wheel).

The harder part is that with the moveable seat its initial position will be forward - in fact it will be almost big enough for a second toddler to sit in the back. This makes the lever position of the brake much more difficult. I do plan to make a dashboard where I was incorporating a steering wheel and was thinking how I could also do a 'hand' brake into the dash. I am thinking of thin wire (or even strong nylon) with a handle in the dash and attached to a lever near the rear wheel. However, I know this will not have nearly as much stopping power as the straight lever where your actual weight is used. I am even thinking of how the brake could be fixed up to all four wheels (or at least the two back ones). My last thought is that instead of stopping the wheels it could 'drop' the end of a 'metal rake' on the ground so that friction did the stopping - I must admit this one seems a bit out there!

cheers

Mick

Does this help at all?
This is a quick drawing on something I used many years ago.
It has the advantages of being able to move the handbrake handle as far forward as you need, it works both wheels and the actuating arm, in maroon acts under tension rather than compression so can be almost anything, even a cable.
It also allows the handbrake to work in a conventional manner of "pulling" on.
The cross bar in red, b needn't be curved.
It would also work as a straight shaft with a "T" piece attached to one side.
Cheers
Jim

Jim,

I like that one. I will need to have a look underneath my cart at the back to see where I have room but a single brake pull hitting both rear wheels seems good to me. I will still try and work out how to incorporate the handle into the dashboard so it does not need to be moved each time I adjust the seat position.

You will need to stay tuned for quite some time before you see what I end up actually doing!

cheers

Mick

No problems Mick,
Just one thing I forgot to mention.
I personally rather liked Phil's suggestion of a footbrake for all the reasons mentioned here.
If you reverse the two black pivot points on the handle, this design would also work as a footbrake.